The global market for video‑game software has been expanding at a modest but steady pace, posting a compound annual growth rate of roughly three percent over the last four years. Analysts expect this trajectory to hold steady for the next four‑year period as well.
Despite this overall growth, player behavior reveals a strong preference for familiarity: about two‑thirds of gamers say they gravitate toward titles they already know or sequels to existing franchises, while only one in five actively seeks out brand‑new games. These insights come from Bain & Company’s latest annual Gaming Report, which gathered responses from more than 5,300 players across a broad geographic spectrum.
The survey highlighted a common source of frustration among respondents: the "unfocused middle" of the market. This term describes games that are overly generic, safe, and shallow—titles that fail to differentiate themselves and thus struggle to capture attention.
To illustrate the impact of focus, Bain & Co compared two recent releases: *Baldur’s Gate 3* and *Concord*. *Baldur’s Gate 3* succeeded by honing in on a narrowly defined audience that appreciated deep role‑playing mechanics and narrative complexity.
In contrast, *Concord* entered a saturated hero‑shooter arena and found it difficult to persuade players, many of whom were already committed to free‑to‑play ecosystems, to spend the full $40 price tag. A deeper dive into public data on 100 games launched since 2023 reinforced this pattern.
The firm found that 83 % of titles that were deliberately targeted at a specific player segment achieved commercial success, compared with just 50 % of games that lacked a clear focus. This stark gap underscores the importance of knowing exactly who you are building for. Player preferences for game genres are also highly fragmented. When asked to choose between story‑driven experiences, open sandbox or user‑generated content, and multiplayer‑centric titles, no single category attracted more than 26 % of respondents.
About one‑fifth of players said their choice depends on mood or that they treat the three categories as roughly equal, while 17 % indicated they prefer other types of games altogether. The report also identified two major forces reshaping the industry: rising player demand for deeper engagement and the rapid adoption of generative AI in development pipelines. Younger gamers, in particular, are concentrating their playtime on a limited set of platforms—Roblox being a prime example.
Bain & Co describes Roblox as having become "the centre of gravity for the entire gaming ecosystem" over the past five years, reflecting its outsized influence on player habits. On the AI front, developers are leveraging generative tools to accelerate production cycles. However, the firm warns that AI alone does not mitigate risk unless it is paired with a well‑defined target audience.
As Bain & Co puts it, AI "lets you scale the wrong bet faster." The companies that will thrive in the coming years, the report argues, will not necessarily be those with the deepest pockets or the most sophisticated AI stacks. Instead, success will belong to studios that can articulate their ideal player in a single, concise sentence and commit to that vision earlier than their rivals. Player sentiment toward AI in game creation has become more favorable over the past year. Forty‑two percent of surveyed gamers now feel more comfortable with AI‑driven development than they did twelve months ago, while 44 % remain unchanged, and fewer than one in seven have grown less comfortable.
Acceptance is especially high among the 13‑to‑17 age group, with 59 % expressing increased comfort and 33 % reporting no shift in opinion. "For studios worried that AI adoption carries reputational risk with their player base, this data suggests the window to move is open, particularly with the audiences who will define the market over the next decade," said a Bain & Co spokesperson. The firm also highlighted how AI can enhance player understanding: emerging analytics tools can dissect engagement patterns, surface what resonates with a target demographic, and create tighter feedback loops between developers and their communities.
Personalisation is another lever that drives spending, especially among teenagers. Tailored communications, bespoke advertisements, and content curated for individual preferences have been shown to boost monetary outlays. In fact, 86 % of teenagers reported spending money on gaming‑related activities each month, compared with just over half of players in their 50s, 36 % of those in their 60s, and 27 % of gamers in their 70s. Gaming‑related expenditures encompass purchases of new titles, downloadable content, subscription services, and tips for streamers, but they exclude hardware such as consoles or VR headsets.
The report found that nearly half of all gamers buy directly from a developer’s own web store at least once a year, and 27 % do so repeatedly. This direct‑to‑consumer behavior is most pronounced among younger players; 40 % of those aged 13‑17 reported multiple direct purchases over the past year. Anders Christofferson, global lead for Bain & Co’s Video Game sector and partner in its Media & Entertainment practice, summed up the strategic implication: "The question for gaming executives is no longer solely about reaching more players. It's reaching the right players, in the right way, and getting more ownership over that relationship.
The studios pulling ahead are the ones that have made a deliberate choice about who they are building for and are aligning every resource behind that answer; AI, distribution, and personalisation alike."